


Lilies

by sunaddicted



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: Banter, Emotional Roller Coaster, Friendship, Gen, He's a good Dad, Hopeful Ending, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Lee ships nygmobblepot, M/M, Past Child Abuse, Protective Oswald Cobblepot, fight me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-19
Updated: 2017-11-23
Packaged: 2019-02-04 10:02:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,700
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12768651
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunaddicted/pseuds/sunaddicted
Summary: "Breathe""I am breathing"Lee rolled her eyes, somewhat fondly even as she still recognised the usual feeling of annoyance that Edward would have managed to awaken even in a saint "Do it properly"





	1. 1. Uno

_1\. Uno_

Once again, with his heart full of dread, Oswald realised that he hadn't paid a visit to his mother's grave in months; falling from his throne and the subsequent struggle to claw his way up to the top - a viciously painful cycle he had went through a little too often for his tastes - had driven his mother's memory to the back of his mind, shadowed by more immediate problems that required his attention unless he wanted to join her in the afterlife.

Which he highly doubted it would have made his mother happy - Oswald could imagine her gently scolding him for having such morbid thoughts as if she was standing next to him, her fingers petting through his hair stiff with pomade.

Still, it didn't erase the fact that he was a terrible son and guilt tied tight knots of his squirming insides, making Oswald feel nauseous just at the thought of his ungrateful behaviour: he should have been able to spare a few minutes for the woman who had raised him in a house that, while poor and lacking when it came to the most material things, had always been full of love and acceptance.

Gertrud hadn't batted an eyelash when he had tentatively implicated that he wasn't remotely interested in those scandalously painted women she was afraid would take her son away from her.

She hadn't tried to drive his most flamboyant habits out of him, teaching him instead how to style his hair and put eyeliner on without poking his eye out.

Despite being unable to afford it, his mother had fought with Oswald for months and taken up all the odd jobs she could to persuade him to stay in high school until graduation.

And Oswald knew that she deliberately had chosen to never speak out aloud about his unsavoury career of choice: she wasn't a stupid woman - a little untethered sometimes, but far from obtuse.

His mother had been a rare breed, as plenty of Oswald's acquaintances had showed him: it seemed that too often the love of a parent was denied to children who were different.

Freaks.

Oswald knew that amongst them, he was one of the few who could boast about having had an happy childhood and nurturing parents - even his father, who he had met too late to form the deep bond he had with his mother, had loved him despite his plentiful flaws.

He also recognised that it probably was the reason why he had the slightly unhealthy habit of collecting unique people that had only known hatred in their lives to give them a semblance of a family to count on - a support network of sorts. The fact that his kindness - not that he purposefully broadcasted it as such: he needed to be feared and respected, not regarded as some sort of mothering figure by all the villains around town - was repaid with loyalty, it was an added bonus that he obviously wasn't going to turn down, seen as most of them had abilities that helped Oswald to keep his hold onto Gotham's underground firm and tight.

Oswald shrugged on his coat and went to the kitchen where he could hear the steady murmuring of Fries' voice talking science to Martin; he hated to interrupt the tutoring sessions, but he had quickly learnt that the boy would restlessly look for him around the Manor and become antsy when he couldn't find him: when Oswald realised that Martin probably acted out of fear of being abandoned once again, his heart had done a little painful summersault and he had promised himself to always warn him when he was going out.

Silently leaning against the doorframe, Oswald took a few seconds to admire the scene playing in front of his eyes: Victor Fries was surprisingly good with children - or maybe he just particularly liked his ward - and, apparently, also very good at explaining maths without being boring if Martin's captivated and focused expression was anything to go by.

He cleared his throat, smiling as he limped up to the table to squeeze Martin's shoulder "I'm going out for a bit"

Immediately, Martin retrieved a discarded scrap of paper with a big question mark doodled on it - the symbol briefly made the blood in Oswald's veins freeze before he realised that Martin must have used it to ask questions to his impromptu teacher to better clarify a piece of information - and thrust it in Oswald's hands. They had both been working on sign language, learning it together in the evenings after dinner, but Martin still hugely preferred to use his notepad.

"To the cemetery" Oswald answered, handing back the note "I'll be back in an hour or so"

/ _Can I come?_ /

"Aren't you in the middle of solving a problem?"

"It's fine, Oswald" Victor reassured, fingers already quickly gathering their notes to put them away until the next lesson "He's been coped up inside the whole week: take him out for a bit of fresh air"

/ _So?_ /

Oswald wanted to argue that a cemetery wasn't the best place for a child for a trip but relented when he looked down and saw those big brown eyes studying him hopefully, waiting for an answer "Alright, go get your coat" Oswald relented with a sigh "How is he doing?" He turned to ask Victor, peering down at the neatly scribbled notes.

"He's a sharp kid" Victor answered "I'm still not sure about homeschooling being the best option but he's not going to have problems passing his examinations"

"I know, I have a bunch of geniuses teaching him" Oswald retorted with a proud smile.

"He needs to interact with his peers, Oswald"

The smaller man sighed "And I agree but he needs to build up his confidence first" he pointed out "I'm not going to send him to school before I'm sure he won't let himself be bullied"

"I suppose that's true" Victor admitted, bringing the conversation to an end when he heard the distinctive pattering of excited feet running over the parqueted floor "Well, I'll see you later. I'm leaving your notes on your desk, Martin - work on the problems we haven't solved today"

Martin signed a quick 'thank you' before he tugged on Oswald's coat, clearly impatient to get out of the house - even if that meant taking a walk amidst graves.

"We're going, we're going" Oswald reassured, rolling his eyes fondly as he led him to the limousine and opened the door for him "Don't squash the flowers" he warned, settling next to Martin's quietly comforting presence.

* * *

 

Edward had always been a creature of habit, routines were so deeply ingrained in his brain that, with their disruption, his thinking process halted and he felt like a fish out of water - choking on thin air, gills gaping obscenely in a vain attempt at survival; it was in those moments that his mirror self had used to take control, the Riddler slipping through the cracks as sleek as an eel to ensure that Edward Nygma didn't do anything idiotic while weighed down by panic.

Not that the Riddler had been any less fixated on patterns - otherwise, Oswald wouldn't have been able to play him so well, predicting his actions with with almost clairvoyant ability. No, the only difference between them was that the Riddler handled the unexpected better than Edward Nygma did and managed to function even when their safety net was snapped.

"Are you hoping that taking up old habits will dislodge the psychological block that's keeping you from using your brain to full potential?" Lee inquired, frowning; Nygma's reasoning made sense - proving to the man that he wasn't actually stupid, if only he bothered to _see_ \- but she did worry about what the other man's emotional instability could push him to do.

Living in the Narrows didn't mean that she suddenly condoned criminal activity and she wouldn't turn a blind eye to her patient going on a murderous rampage just to kick his brain into working like it used to. Lee was slowly growing fond of Edward - it rankled her: he had killed one of her friends, after all - but she wasn't yet so fond that she wouldn't hand his arse at the GCPD if he started spilling blood.

"It can help people suffering from memory loss"

"You don't have memory loss" which had been one of the first signals that had made Lee suspect that Edward's damage had been more psychological rather than physical; it didn't make sense that Nygma would loose something as significant as his intelligence but had retained every single one of his memories up to the moment when he had been iced over by Fries. Various tests and scans had proved her right "What did you have in mind?" She asked, noticing the defeated expression on her patient's face.

Edward immediately brightened at the question: doctor Thompkins wouldn't have asked for further clarification on his plan, if she had thought that it was completely stupid; it _almost_ made him feel like his old self "Something small" he reassured "But on which I truly relied on to calm down whenever I felt particularly under pressure"

"Such as?"

There came the embarrassing- and potentially dangerous - part of his plan "I used to bring flowers in Gertrud's grave, every other Thursday" he admitted. Even after discovering Oswald's betrayal - even after shooting him off of the pier - Edward had kept visiting Gertrud Kapelput with a handful of the whitest lilies he could find, critically inspected to ensure that there weren't any brown speckles to blemish the petals.

It genuinely was surprising that every single florist in Gotham hadn't banished him from their shops.

There was no need to know Penguin particularly intimately to immediately link that name to his mother and Lee's frown deepened as she shook her head, lips slightly parted as she looked for the right words to tell Nygma that he couldn't possibly go on Oswald's mother's grave "Really?" She blurted out instead.

Much to her chagrin, Lee was endlessly fascinated by Edward's conflicting behaviours: he claimed that he wanted to destroy Oswald, take everything away from him in retaliation for ruining his last shot at having a normal relationship, but then he had also admitted to using drugs in order to hallucinate his former best friend and have a chat with him whenever he needed moral support or was feeling lonely - and now she discovered that Edward brought flowers on Gertrud's grave.

It made absolutely no sense.

Unless her little theory was right.

Edward flushed a bright pink "Really. The soul who sins shall die. The son shall not suffer for the iniquity of the father, nor the father suffer for the iniquity of the son"

"Have you just quoted the Bible to prove your point?"

"Ezekiel 18:20. My parents were very religious" Edward offered as an explanation, dismissing her slightly teasing smile and stared at her with a resolute and serious glance. He needed something more than the puzzles and exercises she gave him to train his mind; they stressed and depressed him, made him wonder about whether he'd been an idiot all along - a lying cheater, just like his father had claimed him to be for his whole childhood.

Maybe he had deserved every hard punch against his heaving ribs, every sharp lash of the belt to his quivering back, every cigarette butt burning the tender skin of his inner arms.

No, he couldn't afford to let such doubts take root in his head: Edward Nygma knew he had been abused by his parents, he knew it hadn't been his fault if they hadn't loved him because he was a little odd.

"Nygma, are you alright?"

Edward took a deep breath, fingers pressing down his lowered eyelids "I need to do this" he just said, trying not to sound too desperate.

"Breathe

"I am breathing"

Lee rolled her eyes, somewhat fondly even as she still recognised the usual feeling of annoyance that Edward would have managed to awaken even in a saint "Do it properly" she retorted with a gentle murmur "I didn't mean to discourage you from this plan" on another plan? Sure "But.."

"But?"

"Two conditions"

That didn't sound too bad, he could deal with two conditions; Edward nodded, eyes following doctor Thompkins as he forced the ferocious thoughts spinning in a whirlwind in his mind to slow down "Alright"

Pleased, Lee leaned back against her chair "I'm coming with you and we won't go until we have Oswald's schedule pinned down to a reasonable level of accuracy"

Edward shook his head "He doesn't plan this sort of things" which had always drove him insane to no end: how could someone as powerful as Oswald stand to live his life in such a.. disorderly manner? Didn't he understand that structure was needed to manage his time as best as possible, avoiding waste? Apparently not, Oswald had always been adamant about the importance of... improvisation.

Edward wrinkled his nose at the thought, just as if he had tasted something that had gone off.

"Then we'll have to go when it's most unlikely that he will do so" Lee insisted; hadn't Nygma been purposefully rallying the Narrows up against Penguin with his little comedy act, maybe she wouldn't have worried so much about the two of them meeting on Gertrud's grave - on the contrary, she would have hoped for such a thing to happen so that, helped by the tenderness of the moment, they would finally _talk_ and stop their ridiculous pining before they became the city's laughing stock.

Because Penguin was still so painfully in love with Edward - had someone of Oswald's goons actually believed the whole "out of revenge" spiel when he had let his enemy go? - and to anyone who bothered to look past Edward's rantings about how much he hated the other man, it was so clear that he still cared.

Personally, Lee thought they just needed to be honest with themselves and pull their heads out of their asses.

Not that she was going to be so blunt: she didn't even think Edward realised that it was alright being bisexual and being attracted to both genders - and it wasn't a realisation she was going to help him to have, he had to work it out on his own.

"Doctor Thompkins?"

"Sorry, I was distracted" Lee apologised "Could you repeat that?"

Edward scowled in annoyance; it already was difficult to string sentences up together sometimes, the least his doctor could do was listening to him without zoning out after thirty minutes "I said that Oswald is too unpredictable - even going out at night, which logic suggests to be the most unlikely time of the day to find him bringing flowers on his mother's grave, wouldn't work since he's quite the nocturnal creature" between working at the Lounge until the wee hours of morning and his insomnia - they had shared many cups of tea in front of the fireplace whenever they had found one another wandering around the Manor, sleep eluding them both - it wouldn't have surprised Edward if Oswald picked a ridiculously late hour to visit his mother "Why are you so concerned about us meeting? I'm not worth wasting any time on, now that I'm stupid"

Was it dejectiom that Lee could detect in Edward's voice? "Is that the reason behind your taunting?"

Edward gritted his teeth, voice leaving his mouth through them in a hiss "No, I'm not begging for his attention"

Except that he was. Lee sighed but let the subject drop, not wanting to make the other man even more upset than he already was "Alright"

"Alright?"

Lee nodded "Alright. When do you want to go?"

A sheepish smile slowly appeared on Edward's lips, dimpling his cheeks at the corners "Now? I already have picked the flowers up"

 


	2. 2. Due

_2.Due_

Oswald hadn't immediately noticed the presence of someone standing by his mother's grave, too engrossed in listening to Martin - god, but for being a mute, that kid could chatter when the mood hit him, feltpen scribbling quickly on his notepad and eager fingers stuffing scraps of paper in his hands so quickly that Oswald almost didn't have the time to read one before another was added to his collection. And even if it wasn't an easy task to grapple with pieces of paper, his cane and a - huge, he had gone a little overboard - bouquet of lilies without tripping on the gravel seemingly out to kill him, Oswald's attention remained focused on Martin; it was too much of a joy to see him so relaxed and happy.

It was Martin's sudden perplexed frown that made Oswald look up, eyes following his little companion's line of gaze, only to spot Edward Nygma standing in front of them; he felt all of his protective instincts surge in fear as he pushed Martin behind his legs in an attempt at shielding him.

He'd protect Martin with his dead body if things escalated to such a point.

"What are you doing here?!"

Edward blinked at Oswald, surprised of actually seeing him even if, rationally speaking, he had more reasons to be there than they had; he turned to face doctor Thompkins, tensely standing by his side "You jinxed it"

Lee scowled at him before focusing on Oswald "Penguin, we're not here to cause any troubles" she reassured, blindly feeling for the gun she had grabbed at the last minute as subtly as possible - which wasn't exactly that subtle since she hadn't learnt to deal with weapons any better than she used to, even if the occasion to employ them in the Narrows never waited too long to show itself.

Oswald honestly didn't know whether to be bewildered or angry "Get lost, then" he snapped in the end, flowers and papers fluttering to the damp ground as he grabbed Martin's shoulder to keep him well hidden when he peeked at the duo from behind his knees, a little exasperated by the boy's curious nature: they clearly needed to have a good chat about picking up signals of danger, even from seemingly nice people.

"Technically, we're not on private property: we have the same right as you have to be here" Edward pointed out and Lee's hands itched with the ferocious desire to slap him there and then: what was he thinking, antagonizing the Penguin in such a way?

"It's my mother's grave!"

"And I'm bringing her flowers"

Oswald gaped, words failing him at such an idiotic - yet unfairly simple - reasoning "Why would you do that?"

Edward shrugged "Habit"

"It's an experiment" Lee added; they truly hadn't been planning on doing anything suspicious and she would give Penguin every single detail of Nygma's plan if it meant that neither of them walked away with a stab wound - or worse, she was being optimistic.

"An experiment?!" Oswald raged, skin turning a bright and blotchy red that looked particularly unflattering against his pale complexion "My mother is not an experiment!" He wobbled closer, as quick as his twisted let let him - which was remarkably quick, anyway - and unsheathed his blade, pointing it straight at Edward's Adam's apple "Get lost"

"Oswald..."

"NO! I'm going to kill you, Ed!"

"If you would just listen"

"And let you fill my head with nonsense?" Oswald spat out, heart hammering in his chest and thundering in his temples, drowning out any other sound except their voices - how was it possible that Edward still had such an effect on him? "I think not!"

The situation was quickly getting out of hand; to Lee, it seemed that she had been hurled face first into one of the worst scenarios she had imagined when Nygma had described to her his plan just an hour before. So, when the little boy took advantage of his guardian's - was that what Oswald was to the kid? - distraction and took a few steps closer to her, she immediately dropped to her knees and smiled friendly "Hello, what's your name?" Lee asked, voice as high as it possibly could go without shouting in order to get Oswald's attention before Nygma ended up with his throat slit open "I'm Lee"

"Martin!" Oswald rolled his eyes in annoyance, trying to ignore the way the kid looked up at him with a little apologetic smile on that sweet face of his - Zsasz was right: he was whipped.

"That's a nice name" Lee immediately piped up "How old are you?"

Martin started scribbling on his pad and Oswald let out a frustrated noise, unsure about what to do: on the one side, he knew that neither Edward nor doctor Thompkins would hurt a child and - after the nightmares Martin's had had in the aftermath of the whole professor Pyg's debacle - Oswald had promised himself to avoid killing people in front of Martin, if it could be avoided; on the other side, he couldn't let them get away with disrespecting his mother in such a way - Edward had tried to kill him /twice/, he had no right to bring her flowers!

"You write really well for being nine"

Edward frowned "What are you doing with a nine year old?"

"I adopted him" Oswald answered with a tone of voice that implied how stupid the question had been, making the blade disappear back in his cane with a practiced flick of his wrist before he bent down to slip the feltpen out of Martin's fingers "Time's up for chatting with the doctor: we're going home"

Martin's face scrunched up.

"No, don't look at me like that"

The young boy imperiously stuffed his hand in the air, fingers wriggling impatiently; he wanted to talk to Lee some more, she seemed nice - truly nice, not like Sofia who had smiled while trying to trick and hurt his only friend with the help of the policeman.

Edward observed the exchange with perplexity, eyes wide and mind stuttering in refusal as it tried to take in the sight of a.. fatherly Oswald.

 _/Please/_ , Martin signed.

_/They're not nice people/_

"We're too nice!" Edward protested.

"I should have imagined you would know sign language" Oswald muttered, surrendering back to Martin the feltpen.

"It's a useful skill to have" Edward offered as an explanation, eyeing the boy curiously as he went right back to stuffing Lee's hands with scribbled scraps of paper "Did you pick it up just for him?" He inquired, voice full of doubt and confusion: he once had thought Oswald could be that nice for someone he truly cared about, but that notion had been driven away by the other man's betrayal.

"He needs someone to practice with"

"You love him"

Oswald arched an eyebrow "Do you really think I would have adopted him, if I didn't love him?" It was disconcerting witnessing just how slow Edward's brain had become "You know how little I like children"

Indeed; Edward remembered their visits to schools back when Oswald had been mayor, the way he grimaced at the overabundance of shrieking kids running around with their sticky fingers and no care about whether they stumbled into someone. It only confused Edward more to discover that, for all intent and purposes, Oswald was a father "That's.. "

"Unexpected?"

"Quite"

"So it is finding you at my mother's grave" Oswald reiterated; he might have decided not to unnecessarily expose Martin to murder, but he wasn't going to relent in his questioning until he got a satisfying answer.

Edward shrugged "I already told you why I'm here" he reminded him "I never stopped visiting" he admitted, words rushed and tumbling down his tongue "Not even after shooting you"

"What?" Oswald was suddenly glad that there was doctor Thompkins nearby because he wasn't sure he'd get through that conversation with Edward without his heart failing him; what did it mean that Edward had kept bringing his mother flowers? Was it because some part of him wanted to keep the promise he had made such a long time before, when Oswald had been tossed in Arkham? Or was it truly just out of habit?

Oswald didn't understand: if Edward loathed him and wanted him dead, why did he keep honouring a woman he had never known? He would have chalked it up to Edward's slushie brain, hadn't the other man admitted that even before getting iced over he had been visiting the cemetery.

"What you did it's not her fault"

"I helped you, Edward"

"You killed the woman I loved!"

At the shout, Lee looked up with a concerned glance in her eyes; things had seemed to be going so well up until the point one of them had brought Isabella up. Martin thrust in her hand a scrap of paper with a question mark drawn on it; it was a bit frayed at the edges, as if he carried it around with him to be ready to whip it out whenever it was needed "I'm sorry, I don't know the whole story"

"And neither he will" Oswald butted in, grabbing Martin's hand; he needed to get him away, what had happened between him and Edward wasn't a children's tale.

"Are you afraid he's going to hate you?" Edward cruelly taunted, ignoring the urgent way Lee slapped his forearm to try and prevent him from saying anything more.

"He loves me, Ed - unlike you, he's seen the ugliest side of me and hasn't run away" almost as if on cue, Martin wrapped his free arm around Oswald's leg, eyes flitting to and fro the two strangers to understand what was happening "Unlike you, he trusts that I have only his best interests at heart"

"Killing my girlfriend wasn't the best for me: you did it out of jealousy!"

"She was a fucking clone of the last Ms Kringle, who casually appeared in your life when we had become too strong for someone's tastes!" Oswald argued "I won't deny that I was jealous and I wanted her dead because she had you and I didn't" he added, breathing harshly through his gritted teeth "But I also had string suspicions about her intentions"

"You should have told me"

"Yes, I should have"

Oswald's admission left Edward speechless "Why didn't you?"

"You wouldn't have listened to me"

It was a statement Edward couldn't deny: once Isabella had entered his life, there had been little else he'd been able to focus upon; he certainly wouldn't have given his best friend's speculations the time of the day - it still didn't make Oswald's actions excusable.

"I'm trying to remind my brain how it used to work, falling back on old patterns" Edward offered as a proper explanation in the end.

"That's clever" Oswald hummed, pushing a strand of hair back from Martin's forehead. His emotions were on a terrifying rollercoaster; one moment he was furious, the next one long buried feelings for Edward re-emerged with a vengeance - it was frankly exhausting, especially now that guilt had been added to the platter: he truly had never wanted to deprive Edward of his intelligence "Well... good luck. I really need to get Martin home: it's getting cold"

Edward watched the two of them walk down the path, Oswald's hand protectively settled between the child's shoulder blades.

"Ed.." Lee tentatively reached out to touch the other's arm in a comforting manner, noticing the crestfallen expression on his face "We should go home too"

"Wait here" Edward ordered after a long minute of deliberation, his long legs quickly catching up with Oswald and Martin; he grabbed Oswald's wrist, keeping his hold loose enough that it wouldn't scare the other man and prompt a violent reaction from him "I.. I miss you"

Oswald didn't turn around, just squeezed his eyes shut as if to savour the words "I miss you too" he admitted, almost scared to say the words out aloud. With a gentle tug, he freed himself from Edward's fingers "Get better, Ed" he murmured, sliding open the door of the car.

_/Are you okay?/_

Oswald smiled at Martin, tucking the piece of paper in his coat as he slid on the backseat next to him "I will be, don't worry" he reassured "What about a nice hot chocolate when we get home?"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who took a moment to comment, here and on Tumblr: you really made my day!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed this second chapter as much as I had fun writing it!

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> Guess what happens in the next chapter?


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